Nintendo... Y U NO TAKE MONEY?!

Hello, valued readers. Long time, no see! Apologies for the delayed absence, we know that those of you who read our blog are loyal and we appreciate your time and patience. For that patience, following this post I'll let you know a little about what I have planned.


I've written in detail about the PS3's exclusive lineup this year. We all know the 360 will dominate in third-party sales, it has since it was released. Nintendo's Wii U comes out sometime next year, the 3DS is out now... so the focus has understandably shifted somewhat away from their sales juggernaut, the Wii.The only notable exclusive announced for the Wii this year is Zelda: Skyward Sword... kind of a paltry lineup for a console that has 80 million units in households at the moment.

But some fans are crying foul. There are a number of Japanese Wii titles that have already been released, but won't be seeing the light of day in the United States. One fan decided to say something about it...

Whether you're a Nintendo fan or not, you have to agreed that the man makes a good point. Sony did a fair job of continuing to support the PS2 well into the PS3's life-cycle (it was only late last year, four years after the PS3 launched, that NPD stopped listing PS2 sales on their monthly console sales charts). Why can't Nintendo continue to support their loyal fanbase, arguably the most loyal of the three console manufacturers, with nearly a year left on the development of their next home console?

Feel free to discuss Nintendo and the "Project Rainfall" movement in the comments below. As for what's to come next, the plan is this: I'm working on a two-part Wayback Flashback review of the first and second Assassin's Creed games in preparation for reviews of both Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations when it is released in November. I have a number of opinion pieces milling about in my head, ranging from whether modern games are too easy to the validity of the "achievement/trophy" metagames in today's market. Hopefully these will be features you'll see in early August. Until then, thanks for your patience, live long, and may the Force be with you!

Weekly Roundup 12/13/10: Dreams of Brotherhood Dance in my Head

One feature I've been mulling for a while is a weekly take on what is new in my life, specifically in terms of media. What am I playing, what am I reading, what am I watching or listening to? The Weekly Roundup isn't meant to be anything in-depth or drawn out, just what I'm up to in my regularly scheduled life, and a place for you to talk about what's on your radar as well.

Weekly Roundup #1, 12/13/10

What I'm Playing: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (PS3), Gran Turismo 5 (PS3), Shatter (PSN), God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP), Civilization V (PC)

What I'm Watching: Inception, Heat, Reservoir Dogs, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, GameTrailers TV

What I'm Reading: Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Vortex, Game Informer, IGN.com (Uncharted 3, Elder Scrolls V coverage)

That's it for this week. Pretty slow week for me, with Christmas coming up, work getting busy, and a room to get settled into. Let us know what you're playing, or watching, or whatever, in the comments below!

DC Universe Online PS3 beta opening to PlayStation Plus subscribers

Okay, I laid it out pretty clearly when I started writing here that among my two great loves are my PlayStation 3 and DC Comics. So of course I'm highly anticipating the Sony Online Entertainment MMORPG DC Universe Online, which was originally planned to see a release in November but has since been pushed to early 2011.

The PC beta keys have gone out to select gamers (our own Gamerologist among them), but PS3 users have been left wondering when their time will come.

Well, thanks to The Official Playstation Blog, we know now that the DCUO PS3 beta will be coming very, very soon--exclusively for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Yes, like the Killzone 3, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Dead Space 2 betas before it, DCUO will be exclusive to PS+ subscribers before the end of the year.

So... is $49.99 for a year of PS+ (or $17.99 for three months) looking any more enticing? They're certainly filling their beta testing quotient. Look for a feature soon on my experience with the new PlayStation subscription service.